Gold Coast Whale Watching today was very special as we met two precious calves with one in particular practicing the Language of the Whales in spectacular fashion. Our first mum and calf we met just outside the seaway as the young female approached the Whale Watch 1 with curiosity. She was relaxed and her little one followed closely as she presented her calf to us, this is when a female will approach the vessel and gently nudge or carry her calf and “present” to the vessel. It is a very special interaction to enjoy and wonderful to see the trust she had towards us as both mother and calf were looking for the perfect spot to settle in for a morning rest. Wishing them well we moved out to explore and see what other pods were moving through the sighting grounds today. A lone adult was observed breaching a few times but settled quickly and showed signs of wanting to keep a low profile and continue on with his day and solo travels. A mother Humpback Whale and her little one were moving north but it appeared that her calf had recently enjoyed a feed of milk and was full of beans.
The calf leapt into head lunging and body lunging repeating the spectacular behaviour over and over for nearly an hour. It was a joy to watch as the little one incorporated tail slapping and plenty of tumble rolls amongst all of the head lunging. During a few of the rolls we were able to get a great look at the lower belly and could confirm that this was a beautiful male calf and certainly a curious individual. Eyes wide open and staring back our way he was adorable as he showed off to all of our Pod Members onboard. Every time his mum would try to settle in for a snooze he would begin to make his way towards the Whale Watch 1 as his mum had to come over and collect him each time. It is very special to build a trust and bond with these young calves and their protective mums. During some of the head lunges we could see him open his mouth wide as he completed a few jaw claps while filling his throat with water. A behaviour we see often from the male Humpbacks when competing and during this behaviour you have a fantastic view of the baleen on the upper jaw. The calf continued on excitedly with further head lunging and inverted tail slapping but it was time to wish him well and hopefully on our departure he might settle so his mum could finally get some rest! Bottlenose Dolphins raced us into the seaway on our return which completed a wonderful morning enjoying Gold Coast whale watching.
